Jeremiah 3:19 But I said, How shall I put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said… I. A MOST DELIGHTFUL CONDITION OF PRIVILEGE AND ENJOYMENT. 1. A real and endearing relation, not a mere figure or shadow. Though all worlds wait on His will, God's heart is a Father's heart; and its home, its place of joy and singing, is "among the children." 2. This relationship implies dependence. The two principles of trust and obedience constitute the great requirements which the Head of the redeemed family urges upon all His children. 3. The relation between child and parent implies solemn obligations. The children of God are required to exhibit a character and conduct in harmony with their illustrious relationship. The glory of the Father, the honour of His name; the welfare of the whole household of faith; the furtherance of sacred truth in the world are interests dear to their hearts. They are partakers of the Divine nature, "each one resembles the children of a king." 4. This relation implies the possession of privileges — "If children then heirs," etc. All that the Jew possessed in Canaan, all that Adam delighted to see in Paradise, falls short of the expectations of the believer. The inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and it fadeth not away. II. SOME FORMIDABLE DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF CONFERRING THE BLESSINGS OF SONSHIP. 1. This relation between God and man is not natural "By nature children of wrath," etc. 2. Justice demands the infliction of the penalty of sire Mercy pleads for compassion and forgiveness. In the courts of earthly sovereigns there is no escape from the dilemma. The sovereign can punish, and thus inflict justice; or pardon and show mercy. But in Christ all the requirements of law are satisfied, while the freest manifestation of mercy is made. 3. The character and condition of the sinner himself. Shall the leper be brought into companionship with the pure and the sound? Shall the outcast and the profligate nestle with the virgin and the holy? III. THE SOLUTION OF THE DIFFICULTY AND THE PROCESS OF ATTAINING THE FULL ENJOYMENT OF THE PRIVILEGE. "Thou shalt call Me, My Father." 1. Prayer is the birth cry of the soul. Like that first welcome sound by which the mother knows she has a living child. Every kind of sorrow and distress have driven men to their knees, but there are no prayers, for their fervour, like those which are the fruit of conviction of sin. 2. The spirit of adoption. "My Father." Not by the thunders of Sinai, or the curses of Mount Ebal, are men preserved in Christ Jesus, but by the all-powerful grace of the Holy Spirit. 3. The salvation of a child of God is evinced by the spirit of perseverance. (W. G. Lewis.) Parallel Verses KJV: But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. |
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